No Movement On Brad Bird's Quake Pic

You've got to feel for Brad Bird sometimes; his career seems to be one big rollercoaster. He works with Spielberg, helps bring The Simpsons to life, then sees The Iron Giant mis-marketed on release to lacklustre box office. He rose back up with Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille, but now he's back in a dip as his earthquake project 1906 has seemingly gotten stuck in limbo.

Bird was developing the quake drama, which will chronicle the tragic events around the natural disaster that struck San Francisco, before Pixar asked him to step in and direct Ratatouille, and since Remy and co hit cinemas, he's been trying to get 1906 greenlit.

But now he's been facing delays as Warners executives (the studio is co-producing with Disney-Pixar, but has more of a say about the film's future) are having serious cold feet over the script's length and the projected, Titanic-sized budget. According to Blue Sky Disney (via FirstShowing), Bird has turned in two screenplay drafts, but has yet to see much progress.

And the rumour-mongers are apparently beginning to whisper that if it doesn't shift into pre-production by the end of the year, we may have to wait another few years or face the prospect of never seeing the thing at all.

Part of us is hoping that John Lasseter could repay the karmic debt he owes Bird for helping get Ratatouille finished and successful by stepping into the mess, but the slow progress more than likely means he simply doesn't have enough control. All we can do now is watch and wait. And cross our fingers. And toes. And eyes.

/Empire Online/